Victor Osimhen makes final Chelsea decision after £40m Romelu Lukaku transfer meeting

The Nigerian is still a target for the Blues to bring to Stamford Bridge this summer.

Chelsea now have just a week left in the summer transfer window to sign Victor Osimhen. (Image: Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

The summer transfer saga that has seen Chelsea trying to capture Napoli striker Victor Osimhen has taken yet another turn. The Blues added five attacking players during the transfer window, but none of them eliminated the necessity for a conventional center-forward.

Even after spending almost £100 million in total over the past ten days to acquire Pedro Neto and Joao Felix, Enzo Maresca will still only have Marc Guiu and Nicolas Jackson as his two primary central options, with Christopher Nkunku available to step in when necessary. Chelsea, which has long harboured interest in the Nigerian international, is still holding out hope that, with one week remaining in the summer transfer window, they can finalise a deal for Osimhen following fruitful negotiations with Napoli in recent weeks.

Since Diego Costa left the team in 2017, the Blues have been in desperate need of a reliable goal scorer up front. However, the 25-year-old, who was instrumental in Napoli’s Serie A title-winning season in 2022–2023 after scoring 26 goals in 32 league appearances before scoring 15 in 25 games in an injury-plagued season the previous year, may answer their prayers.

Osimhen did, however, submit a transfer request this summer, which has increased Chelsea’s prospects of acquiring the star as they first seemed to try and use Romelu Lukaku, an out-of-favour striker, to assist reach a deal between the two teams. Despite this tactic, Napoli manager Antonio Conte became quite frustrated with the seemingly slow pace of the negotiations, expressing his annoyance in a press conference last week at not having one of his top objectives this summer to begin the season with.

“I will not talk about the players who are not part of the Napoli squad,” the Italian asserted. You are all well aware that the Osimhen matter existed before to my arrival and will be handled alone by the club. I avoided getting into that predicament. You are all aware of how difficult the transfer market is, and that the deal is currently stalled. I am unable to elaborate further.”

But based on sources from Italy, it looks like the contracts for the two strikers will no longer be connected. According to Corriere dello Sport, Lukaku is not going to be involved in any negotiations that revolve around Osimhen joining Chelsea this summer. The Nigerian international hasn’t committed to moving to Stamford Bridge on loan in any capacity.

Giovanni Manna, Napoli’s sports director, has said he expects to lose the Nigerian star after Conte’s remarks following their disastrous 2024–25 campaign launch. Manna stated: “Victor is an important player, with an important value and conditions.” It’s obvious what he wants. Right now, we made every effort to keep the squad intact.

“We’ll see what transpires over the next ten days as we’re not the only club in this predicament. It is inappropriate to describe the sensations at this moment. We’re collaborating with his group to identify the appropriate course of action.”